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I have a 14x5 6-lug Ludwig pioneer snare, and have never owned a "professional" model snare (i.e. a Supra or Jazz Festival). I do like to tune my snare drum high, and this one WILL tune high with a good head, but you really have to crank it up hard. Am I missing out? Would there be a significant improvement in sound/response with more lugs? Enough to justify a $300+ upgrade?

What advantage does having a deep snare drum shell add compared to a shallow snare shell? Like 5" compared to 7" for example.

My drum set has 13" and 16" toms, and I wanted to add a 10", but since it's a vintage luddy, there's no such thing as a 10" tom. So, I added a 10x6 popcorn snare and tuned it low with the snare off. I love how it sounds, but I can't figure out a good place to put/mount it that fits well as a tom. It's to the left of my hi hat right now, and that works okay, but it's sort of far from the other toms. I tried to the right of the hi hat, but between that and the rail mount on my rack tom that's naturally far left, it's hard to fit them both there. Any ideas?

Is it worth it to upgrade your snare? Yes. Different flavors for different things. For instance, my favorite snare that I own is an SJC Bell Brass 14x7. Its extremely versatile but is generally very loud. I keep it tuned low kind of like your standard rock snare. It fits with rock/pop/country. Its a deep sounding snare but I can also tune it high and it cracks and rings like a champ.

One of my other favs is a 12x5 DW Collectors series that is more for fusion or my one hard rock project that is rap/reggae/rockish kind of stuff. It really fits well. Its a high pitched drum even when its tuned low.

Then I have backups for those two. The back up for the brass snare is a 13x7 Pork Pie Little Squealer. The back up for the 12x5 is a Pearl Free Floating 14x3.5. All of these sound completely different but I can tune them into the same neighborhood.

Will there be a significant improvement in sound? Thats more of a personal opinion. What sounds good to me as I've come to find out, doesn't always sound good to everyone else.

As far as the tom is concerned I think thats a brilliant idea using a snare. Its not going to sound just like a tom would but close. To be completely honest, lots of people use all kinds of thrown together kits. If I saw just one random rack tom I might think it looks funny but if it sounds good, screw that, right? If you're getting really picky about it, get a 5 piece kit. I would keep this one though.

With all that said, more drums is always better in my opinion. Maybe not a kit with everything you have but to have the choice if you want makes you more versatile.

What brand of drum set is that in the back??? I have the same exact kit but whoever had it before me took the stupid emblems off so I have no idea what make and model it is!!! I've been searching everywhere and that is DEFINITELY the same kit!!

To address question 2. As usual, it all comes down to tuning and your wires, but with a more shallow snare like a 5", its easier to get more of a "crack" sound. The deeper the snare, the more "pop" sound it will have.